feverish

[fee-ver-ish]

adjective

1. having fever.

2. pertaining to, of the nature of, or resembling fever.

   a feverish excitement.

3. excited, restless, or uncontrolled, as if from fever.

   Synonyms: worked-up, fervent, impatient, frenzied

4. having a tendency to produce fever.

feverish

/ ˈfiːvərɪʃ /

adjective

1. suffering from fever, esp a slight fever

2. in a state of restless excitement

3. of, relating to, caused by, or causing fever

Other Word Forms

• feverishly adverb
• feverishness noun
• nonfeverish adjective
• nonfeverishness noun
• pseudofeverish adjective
• unfeverish adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of feverish¹

First recorded in 1350–1400, feverish is from the Middle English word feverisch. See fever, -ish ¹

Example Sentences

Outside the door all seemed quiet, but the moment she entered, each of the children assumed a pose of distraught misery, accompanied by moans and feverish gibbering.

Read more on Literature

During a speaking tour of America, Charles Dickens registered his disgust at the signs and handbills he saw promoting this feverish trade nearly everywhere he went.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Anti-intellectualism, anti-rationalism and feverish emotion: These traits best express themselves in a hatred of universities, science and learning more generally, and a superstitious embrace of faith, intuition and gut feelings.

Read more on Salon

New Theater Hollywood, she says, is an attempt to marry the rigor and civic engagement of German theater with Hollywood’s feverish pursuit of charisma.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The album ends with her resolving to confront her struggles with self-acceptance, with the frankly written “I Want To Be Better” — which escalates with the feverish punk pulse of “Onwards.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• fevered www.thesaurus.com
• frantic 
• frenetic 
• frenzied 
• furious 
• heated 
• hectic 
• obsessive 
• passionate 
• restless